Men's college basketball on television

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Men's college basketball on television includes the broadcasting of college basketball games, as well as pre- and post-game reports, analysis, and human-interest stories. Within the United States, the college version of basketball annually garners high television ratings.

Contents

Not all games are televised. Coverage is dependent on negotiations between the broadcaster and the college basketball conference or team. In general, major programs will be televised more often than smaller programs. The televised games may change from year-to-year depending on which teams are having a strong season, although some traditional rivalry games are broadcast each year. Major match-ups between top-ranked teams or major rivals are often broadcast nationally. Some games are traditionally associated with a specific event or holiday, and viewing the game itself can become a holiday tradition for fans.

History

College basketball was first televised during the "experimental" era of television's broadcasting history, when W2XBS broadcast a men's basketball doubleheader from Madison Square Garden in New York City on February 28, 1940. Fordham University and the University of Pittsburgh played in the first game, and New York University played Georgetown University in the second game. [1] [2] [3]

In 1968, the "Game of the Century", played between UCLA and Houston, was syndicated by the TVS Television Network, attracting a significant television audience. The game is widely cited as a catalyst for the explosion and expansion of the televised college basketball landscape.

Broadcast rights

Networks

In addition, some regional syndicators broadcast games on over the air television. Most notably, Raycom Sports syndicate their games to broadcast stations. ESPN Plus, which was a syndication unit of ESPN, also previously syndicated basketball games from various conferences to stations until its 2014 closure in the wake of Big 12 games moving to the ESPN cable networks, and the inception of the cable-only SEC Network. In 2014, Sinclair Broadcasting launched a new syndication programming service, the American Sports Network, to syndicate basketball games in various areas of the country, including a few NCAA Division II games (beginning in 2016).

Raycom in the early 1990s paid ABC $1.8 million for six weeks of network airtime of 26 regional games. The format allowed Raycom to control the games and sell the advertising. [4]

Conference/School-specific stations

In September 2006, the Mountain West Conference was the first to launch a conference-exclusive television network named MountainWest Sports Network. [5] In August of the following year, the Big Ten followed suit with the launch of the Big Ten Network. In 2014, ESPN and the Southeastern Conference launched the SEC Network. In August 2019, the ACC launched the ACC Network, which obtained the rights from the ACC Network syndication package that were previously held by Raycom. [6]

The Pac-12 Networks debuted in 2012 and shut down on July 1, 2024 at midnight PT. [7]

BYU launched their channel, BYUtv, in 2000. With BYU joining the Big 12 in the 2023–24 season, BYUtv ceased carrying Cougars sports telecasts, due to a contract with ESPN+ to hold the third-tier media rights of all teams in the conference. The telecasts are still produced by BYU staff, and BYUtv continues to carry studio programming. [8]

Texas launched their own channel, Longhorn Network, in the fall of 2011. As a result of the school's move to the SEC, the channel shut down in 2024. [9]

ESPN

ESPN has been airing regular-season games since 1980, ESPN2 since 1993, and ESPNU since 2005.

College basketball has been a staple for nearly the whole history of ESPN. Scotty Connal, then-vice president of the all-sports network in Bristol, Conn., offered Dick Vitale a position, shortly after being fired from the Detroit Pistons. The coverage of college basketball and the early rounds of the NCAA tournament increased both college basketball and ESPN's credibility. [10]

Virtual Reality

In 2016, Fox partnered with NextVR to live stream four Big East Conference games in virtual reality. [11]

Current lineup

By home team

Postseason

NCAA tournament

In 1974, Brent Musburger started using the term March Madness when describing the tournament. [12]

In 1991, CBS received exclusive rights to the entire tournament for the first time. Previously, ESPN had aired early round games. Beginning in 2011, CBS shared the early tournament rounds with TBS, TNT, and TruTV. The Final Four and Championship began alternating between CBS and TBS in 2016. [13]

NIT

The ESPN family of networks currently air the NIT games.

CBI

Flosports and ESPN2 split coverage of the CBI.

CIT

The CIT airs on ESPN+.

References

  1. ↑ American Sportscasters Online: Sportscasting Firsts Archived 2006-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ 1940 College Basketball Recap on Infoplease
  3. ↑ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Prepared For Life". Archived from the original on 2014-03-02. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  4. ↑ Sandomir, Richard (January 31, 1992). "TV SPORTS; Syndicator Gives ABC Easy Fast Break on Profit". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.(subscription required)
  5. ↑ "OLN joining TV team for MWC distribution". 19 July 2006.
  6. ↑ Wilkerson-New, Brant (2019-03-10). "Raycom takes new role as ACC Network plans to debut". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved 2019-03-13.(subscription required)
  7. ↑ Schrotenboer, Brent (2024-06-30). "Pac-12 Networks to go dark Sunday night after 12-year run". USA Today. Retrieved 2024-07-23.
  8. ↑ Call, Jared (2023-05-17). "From BYUtv to ESPN+: How BYU's move to the Big 12 will affect on-campus broadcasting". The Daily Universe. Retrieved 2023-08-29.
  9. ↑ "Texas AD Chris Del Conte confirms Longhorn Network will end with SEC move". Awful Announcing. 2022-05-12. Retrieved 2022-05-12.
  10. ↑ http://www.amarillo.com/palm_pilot/stories/030402/spo_dbitale.html.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[ dead link ]
  11. ↑ Gaudiosi, John, Fox Sports to Stream March Madness Basketball in Virtual Reality , retrieved 17 March 2016
  12. ↑ Vecsey, George (March 5, 1995). "Sports of The Times; The March Madness Has Already Begun". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.(subscription required)
  13. ↑ Lapointe, Joe (March 15, 1991). "COLLEGE BASKETBALL: N.C.A.A. TOURNAMENT; Tip-Offs as Daytime Drama on CBS". The New York Times. Retrieved May 12, 2010.(subscription required)
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